I am slowly chunking the Diagonal 9 Patch #3 together. I’d like to get on to the green Diagonal 9 Patch soon, or start one of the newest donation quilts from the green strip blocks. Unfortunately, the large piece I made for the Retreat Organizer is taking up most of the design wall. I really need to get back to that project, if for no other reason than to get it off the design wall. Life is in full swing, however, and May is busy, so I snatch time where I can.
I am sneakily, not maliciously, teaching people to chunk quilts together. I showed Anna how to chunk the other day at Sew Day.
I took advantage of the Sotak Handmade 30% off sale last weekend to buy two patterns I thought were interesting, the Petunia Pouch and the Little Pyramid Pouch. I want to make some small gifts for people at the Retreat, so I cut some fabric for the Little Pyramid Pouch out at Sew Day. I would have bought more, but she has a lot of tote bags and I already have a lot of tote bag patterns.
I have a few of her patterns already. One is the Purse Organizer. I made one for Mom and one for Gerre. It is more of a tablet carrier than a purse organizer. I like the pattern, however. Her free pattern (tutorial?) for scissor cozies is a perennial favorite. I also have the Multi-Pocket Organizer, but I haven’t made that one yet. It is very similar to the Mustang Purse Organizer
It doesn’t look like much in the image above, but I have all of the pieces cut out to make the pouch. I didn’t bring my sewing machine or I would have gotten started.
I had a key chain hardware kit that has been in my hardware bag for a long time. I was with my Mom the other week and she kept dropping her cane, then struggling to pick it up off the ground. I saw that it had a place for a ring or key chain. The two pieces of the puzzle clicked together in my mind and I made her a key ring that she can use as a ‘cane chain’.
The webbing was slick and I couldn’t get the ribbon embellishment to stay in place. I think using a cotton webbing (or strapping) would have alleviated that problem, but I used what I had on hand and Mom didn’t mind. I could have also glued it in place. That can be difficult with a textured surface like polyester webbing, but it is doable, especially for a temporary hold. Lessons learned for next time.
**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I spent the other day working on these blocks and I am already to put them together.
I wasn’t sure if the background would look good. I think it does. It looks very watercolor-y, which is different than the other one I made. I am glad they look different, but have a lot of similarities.
The top is done! Remember? I started it at the Retreat. I had to reorient two squares as I sewed them in the wrong way somehow. Fortunately it was no big deal, mostly because they were both on the edge.
I think the top came out really well. The background has some light dots on it. The contrast is good. Onto to back binding and getting it quilted.
I don’t know whether my niece is having a boy or a girl. I hope the amount of pink in this quilt is ok for a boy as well.
The Palomino is finished! I am going to make another one right away. This pouch has only a few pieces and with the way the side panels and zipper are inserted, it is very easy to put together.
This is a gift for a friend and the fussy cutting is important.
Palomino Pouch-lining Finished
It really went together pretty well, in general. I had some trouble inserting the lining. It does have the same glue closure as the Piebald. Not so great as I missed the instruction to stop at the 1/4 inch mark when sewing the lining together, so the edges shredded a bit (Moda fabric) when I ripped out some of the stitching. It would be really helpful to have a free arm when making this pouch. Now I know, so I’ll do better next time.
No drop-in lining or binding: perfect.
Palomino Pouch-top Finished
The zipper I used is one of the set I bought from Sew Hungry Hippie. I wonder if Natalie of SHH collaborates with Tula on the colors? The green matched the butterfly fabric exactly.
I thought it might be a little big, but the pattern called for a handbag zipper. I tried two zipper pulls, but it didn’t work with this pouch design so I took one off.
Palomino Pouch-side Finished
Palomino Pouch-side Finished
I took the opportunity to fussy cut the side panels as well. I can’t help that these motifs run into the partial motifs on the main panels, but I still think the side panels look good.
This is another pattern from Minikins Season 3. For some reason, it struck my fancy and I decided to make it.
One of the things I already like about the pattern is that you sew the zipper to the side panel as one of the first steps. That means that when I sew the zipper to the main panels, I will sew the side pieces as well.
I did some fussy cutting of the Tula butterfly fabric, as you can see.
I had some trouble cutting this out with a rotary cutter, because the side panels have an interior 90 degree angle, which doesn’t work withe a rotary cutter. I ended up drawing lines around the template and cutting it out with scissors. I used WonderClips** to keep the fold in place while I cut the pieces out.
Palomino pouch inside
This picture (right) shows getting ready to sew the zipper and the side panels to the main panels. I used some Frankenfoam and hope that works out. I used some quite small pieces. Apparently, I can’t throw anything out! Pouches are a good use for Frankenfoam, however.
Palomino pouch in process
This is the same picture as above, but from the top. Stay tuned for the finishing.
**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
The other day I wrote a post about gifts for Gerre. I thought I would write one for the gifts I have made for Carrie as well. I thought I had made more, but I have only been making bags for her since the pandemic.
Carries pouch
Carrie’s Sew Together Bag – bottom
Gift Bag for Carrie
Altoids Tins Sewing Kit
Color Wheel Hackney – Carrie
2-in-1 Case (fixed by Carrie)
Carrie’s Kit Supply Tote
Hemingway Pouch finished
Carrie’s Lined Drawstring Bag
Update 4/24/2024: Carrie reminded me of 3 additional gifts I made for her, so I added them.
As I said the other day, I had three gifts to make in the early part of March. One of them was a birthday gift for Carrie. Since I was pressed for time, I made a lined drawstring bag. I did an assembly line with Gerre’s bag and got them done in an afternoon.
You can’t see it very well, but I tried to fussy cut an entire color wheel for the outside of the bag.
Carrie’s Lined Drawstring Bag – interior
I use some of the Create ‘I’m a Maker’ fabric I bought just for this purpose. I installed it upside down, but Carrie can see it easily when she looks at it, so I am going with that as a design choice. 😉
This time I put labels on the outside of the bags, which I thought looked nice. I didn’t stuff them and take pictures (see above reference to time pressure).
I find it useful to keep track of all the gifts I make for my friends – and my Mom. It is really fun to see them all together. It is also useful to know what I have made, so I get an idea of what new patterns I can use going forward.
Gerre’s EPP Travel Pouch
Gerre’s Journal Cover
Gerre’s Pillowcases – February 2019
Gerre’s Classmates Tote
Gerre’s Mega Pinnie Gift
Sewing Machine Mat from above
Gerre’s Purse Organizer (#2) – inside
Gerre’s Eye Mask
Large Sugar Skull Retreat pouch
Sheffield Tool Tote – front
Scissor Cozy for Gerre
Gerre’s Project Bag
Gerre’s Project Bag #2
Gerre’s project bag #1
Lined Drawstring Bag for Gerre
I can see that I could make an I Spy pouch for her for sure. Perhaps I should make those this year for all the bags. Still, I do enjoy trying new patterns and I have several to try, so we will see. I like to make useful bags and the I Spy pouches are very useful.
It is also fun to see the Mega Pinnie. I had forgotten about that. It might be time to make another. I have a whole bag of poly stuffing and no project in sight for that.
It is pretty amazing that I have made 15 gifts for her. It started out as a way to make her smile and has become a tradition, at least for me.
International Women’s Day came around and I forgot to post about the bag I made for Gerre.
Lined Drawstring Bag for Gerre
I was a little pressed for time and had three gifts to make, so I pulled out the Lined Drawstring Bag pattern from Jeni Baker, In Color Order. As I have said before, this is a great pattern and I should make more of them.
I always have trouble with directional fabric, so I drew a picture this time, like I have done in my I Spy pattern. I hope it will help me next time I pull the pattern out.
I put a few fun things in the bag and sent it off.
Yes, the Cal Piebald is finished. I think it came out really well. The fussy cutting, as mentioned, looks great!
In this image you can see the long loop I talked about when I started it. I used my own hand to figure out the length and I think it is ok. We’ll see what SIL #4 says.
Cal Piebald – bottom
I also fussy cut the bottom even though it won’t be seen very often.
One of these days, I’ll have to try adding Odicoat to a finished bag to see what happens. I am thinking a lot about what happens when people actually use the bags I give them. I want them to use the bags, so I should prepare them better to be used.
Cal Piebald – back
This pattern has an interesting stitching pattern for the loop/handle. The directions say to stitch the the part of the loop not attached to the bag with 4 lines before attaching it to the bag. This meant that I had to calculate exactly where the loop hit the bag, thus there was a bit of pfaffing around with my hand in the loop and trying to mark where I thought the loop would end.
Note: if you make the loop the size indicated in the pattern, there is no pfaffing around.
The rest of the loop is stitched to the bag using the four lines again. I think it is pretty secure.
Cal Piebald – interior
I think the lining matches really well. It is a little bit baggy, which is weird, but it isn’t terrible, so I am not going to stress about it. I sewed the lining with a fatter seam allowance, so it shouldn’t be baggy. Who knows? Another mystery to try and solve while I make other bags.
So, this is done. I am pleased. I am not sure when I will give it to SIL #4. I’ll see about giving it to her when I see her on the weekend.
I finished the third Piebald in time to give it to my friend. This one looks quite fat and squat. I didn’t even plump it up for the photo. Isn’t it funny?
I was able to fussy cut the flap and front panel again, which makes the flap look good. I was able to get the fussy cutting the right way up on the front panel this time as well.
Piebald #3 flap & zipper
I am also really pleased with the zipper. I found some #3 rainbow zipper tape and some smaller zipper pulls. I used them to try adding a double zipper, which worked perfectly. I thought the white tape would look a little weird, but I think it looks fine. I just love those rainbow zipper teeth.
Piebald #3 lining
This time I understood the directions for completely attaching the lining. There is a part you have to glue the lining to the foam on the inside, which I did, but it didn’t work even though I let it dry as described in the video. Fourth time is the charm? We’ll see.
I hand stitched the lining to the front panel, which worked fine.
I didn’t have very much of the lining fabric, but I was able to cut all the pieces I needed with no problem. I also still have some left. I think I had most of a fat quarter or slightly over the FQ size from an original half yard. I don’t remember how much I originally bought.
Piebald #3 lining
I changed the way I assembled the lining as well. The directions say to start out with a quarter inch seam allowance then veer to 3/8s and then veer back to a quarter. I didn’t like the way that worked on Piebald #2, so I used a 3/8 inch seam allowance for the lining of this pouch. I think it fits much better.
As you can see from the various photos, the strap is much smaller. I measured exactly this time (21.5 inches) and added it as directed. When I make the Cal version I’ll make it somewhere in between the lengths I used on Piebald #2 and Piebald #3.
Piebald #3 full back
Piebald #3 back
Measuring correctly made a difference in the way the various stitching lines lined up on the back. I don’t know why there is so much stitching on the back. Is it for strength or does it just look cool? I’ll measure the wristlet one so the stitching lines line up when the loop is longer.
Piebald #2 and Piebald #3
Both Piebald #2 and #3 came out better than I expected. I wish I could do each bag perfectly the first time, but each pattern really takes more than one try to get it – or get it acceptable.
Perhaps I should make these for everyone I know! I think I will move on to another pattern! 😉
I started another Piebald as a gift for a friend I am seeing on Wednesday.
Aside from the fact that you need to cut exterior, lining, Shapeflex** and Soft & Stable**, this pouch can be cut out very quickly.
I felt like I needed to work on the front again, so I made another one. There is one more I want to make, but I haven’t found where I put the fabric, so it will have to wait.
N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I had to go to the office twice last week. That sound so weird to say after years of going 4-5 days per week. Anyway, I always sit near a friend so we can chat if either of us can get a break.
Enigma #4 in the Wild
She had her Enigma with her and was using if for all the computer bits and bobs we have to haul around.
